"Meredith Ann Pierce - Firebringer 1 - Birth of the Firebringer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Meredith Ann)

blocking his view, he still could not determine any outline he recognized, and strained instead for a
glimpse of vivid green and goldтАФthe colors of a tercel, a gryphon maleтАФor of blue and tawnyтАФa
formel.
The creature on the hillside shifted its stance. Jan froze and felt Dagg beside him flinch. Jan felt the
stinging gnats at his flank again and did not swat. They waited long seconds. He edged his eye slowly
around a treebole and caught a clear view of the hillcrest at last through a gap in the trees.
It wasтАжanother unicorn. Only that. Another unicorn. Jan snapped his teeth together and could have
kicked. Of course it would be one of his own people. Of course! He had forgotten the lookouts. This
crest commanded a view of the east. The prince must have ordered watches to scan the stormwind,
because it was spring now. Gryphons never came in winter. He should have remembered that. Jan stood
absolutely still.
Dagg nudged him urgently. тАЬWhatтАЩs there?тАЭ he whispered. тАЬCan you see it now?тАЭ
тАЬOne of ours,тАЭ Jan muttered. тАЬMy fatherтАЩsтАжoh, itтАЩs Tek.тАЭ
He stopped again, recognizing the other suddenly, for the lookout had stepped from the shadows into
the sun. She was not the solid or dapple or roan of other unicorns, but paint: pale rose splashed with
great, irregular blots of black.
тАЬWhat, the healerтАЩs daughter?тАЭ Dagg was asking, his voice beginning to rise as though he no longer
cared whether they were discovered or not. тАЬWeтАЩre done for storming then.тАЭ
тАЬHist,тАЭ Jan told him, eyeing the lookout still. She was a strange one, so he had heard. He hardly knew
her. A fine warrior, all agreed, but very aloof and always aloneтАФjust like her mother, Jah-lila, who was
the healerтАЩs mate but did not live among the herd. The wild mare who lived apart, outside the Vale.
Jah-lila the midwife, the magicker.
Jan eyed the young paint warrior Tek through the trees; and as he did so, a part of his mind that he
usually kept tightly guarded, openedтАФand a plan came to him, insinuating itself into his thought like swift,
smooth coils. Jan felt his pulse quicken and his dark eyes spark.
тАЬHist,тАЭ he said again to Dagg. тАЬLetтАЩs test this lookoutтАЩs skill.тАЭ He shouldered the other back into the
shadow of the trees. тАЬI have a game.тАЭ

Jan kept his voice beneath a murmur and whispered the whole of his plan in two sentences. Then he
and Dagg parted, and Jan lost sight of the dapple colt among the firs. Quickly, quietly, he himself circled
back to the lookout knoll. Peering from behind a bit of ledge and scrub, he caught sight of Tek again. She
stood facing away from him, her head turning slowly as she scanned the wall of cloud rolling in from the
southeast. Jan waited.
And presently he heard a noise downslope. TekтАЩs ears swiveled, pricked, but she did not turn. Jan
watched intently, but as the sound died TekтАЩs ears turned forward again. She scanned the sky. Jan
breathed lightly, one breath, two; he held his breath. Then the noise came again, closer, clearer this time.
TekтАЩs ears snapped around. Jan champed his teeth. But again the sound ceased and quiet followed. The
princeтАЩs son settled himself to wait.
The sound came for a third time, suddenly, much nearer, a low, throaty mewling such as the storytellers
said gryphon hatchlings made. Jan found himself tense and shivering; his skin twitched. How real it
soundedтАФDagg was the best mimic of all the uninitiated foals. TekтАЩs head now had whipped around, her
frame gone rigid. A rustling started in the thorn thicket. Jan had to duck his chin to keep from nickering.
The half-grown mare on the lookout knoll stood head up, legs stiff.
Silence. Jan saw TekтАЩs green eyes searching the brush. She touched the ground, pawing it gently, her
eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. Jan heard more gryphon cries downslopeтАФjust exactly as they
sounded in the lays. TekтАЩs forehoof dug into the earth. He edged closer, keeping himself concealed. The
young warriorтАЩs movements fascinated him.
He heard Dagg rustling in the thickets again, and saw Tek bowing her head to polish the tip of her
skewer-sharp horn deftly against one forehoof. He had seen half-growns as well as the full-grown
warriors doing that before battle. Then suddenly a sharp yell, like that of a wounded wingcat, rang out,